Have you ever been in a situation where something happened and you said, “I knew that would happen!” If something’s not likely to go well, it’s easy to predict the failure, but does it make a difference what you’re expecting?

Let’s say I’m fixing an old car and I need a part. So I call up the manufacturers service centre and I ask for spare parts. While I’m waiting on the phone for the parts person to pick up, what am I thinking? This part will be hard to get, the car is old, it’s probably out of stock, I wonder how many calls I will have to make to find a part. It could take me days, weeks to locate this part.

OR

I could be thinking, they will have this part for sure. It’s a part that wears out often and they will have plenty of spares. That’s how these guys make money, on spare parts. I should have it all done in a couple of hours and then we can go out for dinner.

What’s the difference? – Your expectation! What you’re expecting makes a difference. Why do you think people so often refer to others as “cup half empty” or a “cup half full” kind of person? There’s two ways to view most situations. One way is expecting the worst, that’s being a pessimist. The other way is expecting the best. That’s an optimist. If you’re going to be a person of faith you cannot be a pessimist. You must decide that you are going to be an optimist! It’s not about the abundance of evidence, we are always making up our mind to believe something without the luxury of all the facts. You just can’t get all the facts all the time, you need to make decisions based on your best judgement. That’s where wisdom comes in. The more optimistic you are the more your faith is in action creating the future you desire to see come to pass.

You’re going to have an outdoors BBQ next weekend. What’s the weather going to be like? One thing we all know is, don’t bother checking the weather forecast. They get it wrong often and it can change. What are you expecting?

What you’re expecting makes a difference. It’s not just being positive or negative, it’s creating the future for you. Look at this verse: Proverbs 24:14(AMP)

14 So shall you know skillful and godly Wisdom to be thus to your life; if you find it, then shall there be a future and a reward, and your hope and expectation shall not be cut off.

God says your expectation will not be cut off. It has power, so let’s understand how this fits in with faith because we know that faith can move mountains right?

Here’s a story.

Acts 3:3-8 (AMP)

3 Now Peter and John were going up to the temple at the hour of prayer, the ninth hour (three o’clock in the afternoon),

2 [When] a certain man crippled from his birth was being carried along, who was laid each day at that gate of the temple [which is] called Beautiful, so that he might beg for charitable gifts from those who entered the temple.

3 So when he saw Peter and John about to go into the temple, he asked them to give him a gift.

4 And Peter directed his gaze intently at him, and so did John, and said, Look at us!

5 And [the man] paid attention to them, expecting that he was going to get something from them.

6 But Peter said, Silver and gold (money) I do not have; but what I do have, that I give to you: in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk!

7 Then he took hold of the man’s right hand with a firm grip and raised him up. And at once his feet and ankle bones became strong and steady,

8 And leaping forth he stood and began to walk, and he went into the temple with them, walking and leaping and praising God.

In this story, a crippled man is expecting some money, but it puts his heart and mind in the right place of expecting to receive, and Peter James and John deliver something better than money – a miracle healing! This man’s position of looking up and expecting to receive opened him up to receive the biggest miracle of his life.

So often our frame of mind is to expect the worst. Many people even voice all their negative expectations. It’s almost a sport to see who can be the most negative and so create a joke about it. But all jokes aside, what you’re really expecting makes a difference.

Let’s go back to the definition of faith:

Hebrews 11:1(AMP)

11 Now faith is the assurance (the confirmation, the title deed) of the things [we] hope for, being the proof of things [we] do not see and the conviction of their reality [faith perceiving as real fact what is not revealed to the senses].

Faith is being sure in our heart, that what we hope for, is already ours. Faith means that we have taken possession of the thing that we hope for. Now hope in the bible is a very strong and positive word, not like the way we use hope in the modern vernacular. Bible hope is a strong and confident expectation.

The bible links hope with faith. It says faith is the assurance of things hoped for.

What are you hoping for? Ladies, when you hope to buy a new dress or top, don’t you have something in mind that you want? Haven’t you pictured the desired article in your mind’s eye? Guys, is there something you hope for? A new car perhaps? What man hoping for a new car has not pictured the exact model and colour he desires? It’s in his mind’s eye.

Faith is the assurance of what you hope for. Faith is the confidence that you have in your possession the very thing you are hoping for. Faith reaches out and takes hold of what you are hoping for and brings it into reality. It’s almost like faith has a hold on one end of the rope and the other end is what you are hoping for. Faith just pulls it in!

All this will start to make sense when I tell you that the word for hope and the word for expectation are the same words in the original languages of both the Old Testament and the New Testament. Not only that but the word for hope and expectation in the Old Testament means literally a cord or a rope.

Now does it make sense that the bible says your expectation shall not be cut off!

The nuts and bolts of faith. Now let me put it all together for you. You can change your expectations. Your future and what you want to see happen is what you are hoping for. That hope is a confidence and strong sense of what you desire to receive and see take place. Now because it is your hope, you can visualize that outcome. Your hope or confidence is like a rope or cord. You have hold of one end and the other end is the expected outcome. Now don’t let go! Don’t give up! Don’t think up all the reasons why it won’t happen. Expect the best. Expect that you will have the outcome you desire. Now faith is the assurance of things you hope for. Faith is the supernatural ability to lay hold of that hope, if you like, one end of the rope and receive or bring into reality the things you hope for and expect.

So there is usually an element of time involved. It takes time to pray and believe and work through any doubts and get more and more confident that what you are believing for will come to pass.

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

1. What is a typical negative expectation that you often have?

2. Do you find that you expect the best generally or do you often expect the worst?

3. Do you believe that you can change your expectation?

4. What things are you expecting for this year?

5. If your mind constantly goes to the negative, how could you change that?

Understanding faith is a lifetime journey, yet it is so simple. Jesus spoke about faith over and over again and marvelled that His disciples often had so little faith, as if that was so astounding. Here’s what Jesus says about the simplicity of faith.

Matthew 18:3 (AMP)

3 And said, Truly I say to you, unless you repent (change, turn about) and become like little children [trusting, lowly, loving, forgiving], you can never enter the kingdom of heaven [at all].

What is faith? Do you have faith? Is the faith you have that the chair you’re sitting on is going to hold you up and not collapse any different from the faith one has in God?

Faith is the confident assurance that God is who He said He is. Faith is the knowledge, spiritually received, that what God said is true and you can rely on it. Faith is actually given to you by God himself.

Romans 12:3 (AMP)

3 For by the grace (unmerited favor of God) given to me I warn everyone among you not to estimate and think of himself more highly than he ought [not to have an exaggerated opinion of his own importance], but to rate his ability with sober judgment, each according to the degree of faith apportioned by God to him.

God designed you and me to use faith and to walk in faith as we interact with Him. One of the most important ingredients in faith is trust. You can have faith in God when you trust Him. That trust must be in the same manner as a little child trusts, as we see from the verse we first read. What is trust? The bible word for trust in the old and new testaments means to flee for refuge to a safe place, to be confident, to be sure, to rely with inward certainty.

Do you trust God? Would He ever let you down?

Here’s some examples of trust.

One day, while my son Zac and I were out in the country, climbing around in some cliffs, I heard a voice from above me yell, “Hey Dad! Catch me!” I turned around to see Zac joyfully jumping off a rock straight at me. He had jumped and then yelled “Hey Dad!” I became an instant circus act, catching him. We both fell to the ground. For a moment after I caught him I could hardly talk.

When I found my voice again I gasped in exasperation: “Zac! Can you give me one good reason why you did that???”

He responded with remarkable calmness: “Sure…because you’re my Dad.” His whole assurance was based in the fact that his father was trustworthy. He could live life to the hilt because I could be trusted. Isn’t this even more true for a Christian?

Tim Hansel, Holy Sweat, 1987, Word Books Publisher, pp. 46-47.

There is no situation I can get into that God cannot get me out. Some years ago when I was learning to fly, my instructor told me to put the plane into a steep and extended dive. I was totally unprepared for what was about to happen. After a brief time the engine stalled, and the plane began to plunge out-of-control. It soon became evident that the instructor was not going to help me at all. After a few seconds, which seemed like eternity, my mind began to function again. I quickly corrected the situation.

Immediately I turned to the instructor and began to vent my fearful frustrations on him. He very calmly said to me, “There is no position you can get this airplane into that I cannot get you out of. If you want to learn to fly, go up there and do it again.” At that moment God seemed to be saying to me, “Remember this. As you serve Me, there is no situation you can get yourself into that I cannot get you out of. If you trust me, you will be all right.” That lesson has been proven true in my ministry many times over the years.

A television program preceding the 1988 Winter Olympics featured blind skiers being trained for slalom skiing, impossible as that sounds. Paired with sighted skiers, the blind skiers were taught on the flats how to make right and left turns. When that was mastered, they were taken to the slalom slope, where their sighted partners skied beside them shouting, “Left!” and “Right!” As they obeyed the commands, they were able to negotiate the course and cross the finish line, depending solely on the sighted skiers’ word. It was either complete trust or catastrophe.

What a vivid picture of the Christian life! In this world, we are in reality blind about what course to take. We must rely solely on the Word of the only One who is truly sighted–God Himself. His Word gives us the direction we need to finish the course.

A lot of people trust themselves and yet find it hard to trust God which doesn’t seem to make sense! God is trust worthy, no doubt, because He is perfect and cannot lie. Yet many times we don’t trust Him because we doubt that He loves us completely. We think that God would ignore us, or forget us, or treat us as we deserve because of our failures.

So God encourages us to trust Him many times in the bible.

Proverbs 3:5-6 (AMP)

Lean on, trust in, and be confident in the Lord with all your heart and mind and do not rely on your own insight or understanding. In all your ways know, recognize, and acknowledge Him, and He will direct and make straight and plain your paths.

Having faith in God means putting your whole trust in Him, even when you don’t see how it’s going to work. Even when it seems crazy to trust Him, even if you can’t see any way that things could possibly work out, you’re going to trust in Him and rely on Him – that’s trust. Here’s a great example from the bible.

Matt 14:24-31 (AMP)

24 But the boat was by this time out on the sea, many furlongs [a furlong is one-eighth of a mile] distant from the land, beaten and tossed by the waves, for the wind was against them.

25 And in the fourth watch [between 3:00—6:00 a.m.] of the night, Jesus came to them, walking on the sea.

26 And when the disciples saw Him walking on the sea, they were terrified and said, It is a ghost! And they screamed out with fright.

27 But instantly He spoke to them, saying, Take courage! I Am! Stop being afraid!

28 And Peter answered Him, Lord, if it is You, command me to come to You on the water.

29 He said, Come! So Peter got out of the boat and walked on the water, and he came toward Jesus.

30 But when he perceived and felt the strong wind, he was frightened, and as he began to sink, he cried out, Lord, save me [from death]!

31 Instantly Jesus reached out His hand and caught and held him, saying to him, O you of little faith, why did you doubt?

Imagine Peter stepping out of the boat. Imagine what thoughts he would have to overcome in his mind to place his foot down onto the water to step out of the boat.

Now it’s your turn to walk on water. God hasn’t changed. He’s the same yesterday today and forever. So ask Him to call you onto the water and get ready to step out.

What are you going to do this year that you have never tried before?

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

1. What things that happen to people cause them to loose trust in others?

All scripture is divinely inspired and without error. Please see our teaching on this at this podcast.

James 1:22 Amplified Bible (AMP) 22 But be doers of the Word [obey the message], and not merely listeners to it, betraying yourselves [into deception by reasoning contrary to the Truth].

Understanding Faith is the great journey of the Christian life. From the very beginning of the journey to know God, the Christian uses faith to obtain the very first promise of receiving forgiveness and obtaining eternal life. Then the new life lived with God in relationship requires that faith is active and growing throughout the whole of the Christian life.

Four times in the scriptures God says “The just shall live by faith.” To live by faith means that faith is the primary ingredient in our walk with God. The essential nature of faith comes evident when we discover that as created beings God made man to have faith and use faith to participate in His world through relationship with God.

In Habakkuk where we find the first mention of the just shall live by faith there is an interesting footnote by a biblical commentator:

“Habakkuk 2:4 – There is a curious passage in the Talmud [the body of Jewish civil and religious law] which says that Moses gave six hundred injunctions to the Israelites. As these commands might prove too numerous to commit to memory, David brought them down to eleven in Psalm 15. Isaiah reduced these eleven to six in [his] chapter 33:15. Micah (6:8) further reduced them to three; and Isaiah (56:1) once more brought them down to two. These two Amos (5:4) reduced to one. However, lest it might be supposed from this that God could be found only in the fulfilment of the law, Habakkuk (2:4 kjv) said, “The just shall live by his faith”” (William H. Saulez, The Romance of the Hebrew Language).

What does it mean to live by faith?

It means that your success in life in which you meet and know God and conduct a supernatural relationship with Him is made possible only by having and using faith. The verse has the understanding that one’s life comes out of and proceeds from faith. How else might someone live? By human knowledge, by the senses, by making every decision and choice about life through the natural man’s resources of the five senses.

2 Corinthians 5:7 – For we walk by faith [we regulate our lives and conduct ourselves by our conviction or belief respecting man’s relationship to God and divine things, with trust and holy fervour; thus we walk] not by sight or appearance.(AMP)

For example, do you trust in God’s provision? Each and every day we make choices after considering the information concerning our resources. Do I have enough money? Will my decisions and my feelings be regulated by what I see in my bank account? Or will they be regulated by what God has promised to me and every believer? A promise such as Phil 4:19 – “My God shall supply all your needs according to His riches in Glory” can bring confidence and hope to your outlook. Faith is the knowledge that the promise is trustworthy and you can count on it. It carries more weight than the 5 senses information of what’s in the bank.

Each and every day, as a Christian believer, God has designed that we live by faith. It’s normal and natural for this “animal” to live by faith. Like a fish breaths water and a mammal breaths air, a Christian uses faith to exist and prosper in this supernatural life we have. We are not created to live life attached to the umbilical cord of sense knowledge alone. We are created to function and prosper by using faith to know God’s word and His will and function accordingly. It’s by nature a life lived supernaturally.

Just imagine you wake up tomorrow morning and you have a tummy ache. What’s your first thought? This is uncomfortable! I don’t want this pain and discomfort! Now what’s your next thought? (This will be the test of live by faith or live by natural knowledge.) I imagine that a majority of Christians reach for the medication bottle first, and to be honest, I would probably do that many times, unless it’s severe and then I make the faith step of talking to God about it. Asking in prayer for divine intervention is the first step in living by faith. But listen to this: if you’re living vitally connected to Jesus and filled with His word you will know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit and no plague can come near your dwelling. What’s more, nothing shall by any means hurt you. So the first reaction to a tummy ache from a man or woman of faith is: “Get off me pain!! You have no right or place in me!!” And then get on with your day whether the pain goes immediately or after several hours the mind is rested and content in God’s activity being set in motion and His will has been accomplished. All is set right and from now on I am not dictated to by feelings or what I see but I am resting in the promise and kindness of God.

All day every day you and I make decisions and experience feelings that spring from knowledge. Is that knowledge mere sense knowledge, or are we making decisions and experiencing feelings that spring from supernatural knowledge of Gods’ promises and provision? That latter experience is living by faith and my main thought that I want to get across today is that God created and designed you to operate in this faith life, not to be hamstrung and hobbled by living entirely out of the 5 senses and experiencing only natural knowledge.

God has faith. Heb 11:3 By faith we understand that the entire universe was formed at God’s command, that what we now see did not come from anything that can be seen.(NLT) God created all things by faith. God created something from nothing and fashioned it not by skilful hands but by His words. God operates exclusively by faith.

We are created in His likeness. Gen 1:26 Then God said, “Let us make human beings in our image, to be like us. They will reign over the fish in the sea, the birds in the sky, the livestock, all the wild animals on the earth, and the small animals that scurry along the ground.” (NLT)

Human beings are created in the likeness of God. We are created to be like God, that is, to have a spirit and be in union with God knowing and understanding His will and His way. Listen to how Jesus describes this… John 15:4-8 Remain in me, and I will remain in you. For a branch cannot produce fruit if it is severed from the vine, and you cannot be fruitful unless you remain in me. 5 “Yes, I am the vine; you are the branches. Those who remain in me, and I in them, will produce much fruit. For apart from me you can do nothing. 6 Anyone who does not remain in me is thrown away like a useless branch and withers. Such branches are gathered into a pile to be burned. 7 But if you remain in me and my words remain in you, you may ask for anything you want, and it will be granted! 8 When you produce much fruit, you are my true disciples. This brings great glory to my Father. (NLT)

Hebrews 11:6 Amplified Bible (AMP) But without faith it is impossible to please and be satisfactory to Him. For whoever would come near to God must [necessarily] believe that God exists and that He is the rewarder of those who earnestly and diligently seek Him [out]. When we meet Jesus and receive this new life in Christ, of course we want to please Him, Right?

Living this life with God is glorious and exciting. It’s filled with challenges and God is interested in seeing you grow in faith because then you are becoming closer and closer to the intended design. Live by faith not by sight.

So how shall we respond to this message? Choose to live by faith. Get into God’s word and think deeply on it. When making any decision, consider first – “what do I know about what God says to me about this?” Make faith decisions. Consider the promise first before the sense knowledge dictates the outcome. Use faith for all the little things so that your faith grows and when the big things come along you are prepared.

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

1. What kind of information comes to us through our five senses? give some examples.

2. What kind of information comes to us by faith from God?

3. What do you think Paul is trying to say in 2 Cor 5:7?

4. Is it hard to make decisions out of faith rather than what we see by our own five senses?

What do you say to a person who says, “Prove God exists!” Some Christians may reply, “Prove that He doesn’t” But really the reply should be, “What kind of proof are you looking for?”

The proof one person seeks may be different to what another person requires. What may be convincing to one is rubbish to another! Some different kinds of proof may be:

Scientific Proof. For example, this article in the Wall Street Journal provides scientific evidence for the existence of God. Some people will read this article and scoff at its trite deductions. Others may find it adds to an accumulating weight of evidence for the rational belief in intelligent design.

Logical Deduction. Some people are seeking a logical argument for the existence of God. There are some pretty deep logical arguments here which will keep you thinking for hours, yet many would find these empty and lacking force. Pacall’s Wager is a simple logical argument. It merely says, if I’m a Christian and I’m wrong (about the existence of God) then I will never know about it. But if you (an atheist) are wrong then you will spend eternity in hell to think it over, hence the greater burden of proof lies with the atheist.

Sensory awareness. Some people want to see God in action, or hear His voice, feel His touch in some way to experience God with their senses so that they can know He is real.

A reason to believe. Other people are seeking a reason to accept God’s existence because they have a blockage or obstacle to faith. They may say, “If God is real then why did my loved one die?” Something doesn’t make sense to them and if that mystery can be unraveled then they may find the reason to believe.

Therefore if someone asks you to prove God exists, then ask them to tell you what kind of evidence are they looking for?

The request for proof can not be separated from the motive of why they want proof. Jesus dealt with this issue a few times in the New Testament.

38 Later a few religion scholars and Pharisees got on him. “Teacher, we want to see your credentials. Give us some hard evidence that God is in this. How about a miracle?”

39-40 Jesus said, “You’re looking for proof, but you’re looking for the wrong kind. All you want is something to titillate your curiosity, satisfy your lust for miracles. The only proof you’re going to get is what looks like the absence of proof: Jonah-evidence. Like Jonah, three days and nights in the fish’s belly, the Son of Man will be gone three days and nights in a deep grave.

41-42 “On Judgment Day, the Ninevites will stand up and give evidence that will condemn this generation, because when Jonah preached to them they changed their lives. A far greater preacher than Jonah is here, and you squabble about ‘proofs.’ On Judgment Day, the Queen of Sheba will come forward and bring evidence that will condemn this generation, because she travelled from a far corner of the earth to listen to wise Solomon. Wisdom far greater than Solomon’s is right in front of you, and you quibble over ‘evidence.’

The Pharisees motive was to prove Jesus wrong. They had a vested interest in seeing Jesus fail or go away, because the people followed Jesus and it was diminishing the Pharisees power and authority.

22 The next day the crowd that had stayed on the far shore saw that the disciples had taken the only boat, and they realized Jesus had not gone with them. 23 Several boats from Tiberias landed near the place where the Lord had blessed the bread and the people had eaten. 24 So when the crowd saw that neither Jesus nor his disciples were there, they got into the boats and went across to Capernaum to look for him. 25 They found him on the other side of the lake and asked, “Rabbi, when did you get here?” 26 Jesus replied, “I tell you the truth, you want to be with me because I fed you, not because you understood the miraculous signs. 27 But don’t be so concerned about perishable things like food. Spend your energy seeking the eternal life that the Son of Man can give you. For God the Father has given me the seal of his approval.” 28 They replied, “We want to perform God’s works, too. What should we do?” 29 Jesus told them, “This is the only work God wants from you: Believe in the one he has sent.” 30 They answered, “Show us a miraculous sign if you want us to believe in you. What can you do?

Why you want proof is an issue not just that you want proof. In other words are you genuinely looking for God? Are you open to find Him and become a believer? Then your journey of discovery is from a motive of seeking and discovering. Others are seeking a proof to justify their independence and lack of need for God. They seek to prove God is not in order to be comfortable in their sin.

16-18 “This is how much God loved the world: He gave his Son, his one and only Son. And this is why: so that no one need be destroyed; by believing in him, anyone can have a whole and lasting life. God didn’t go to all the trouble of sending his Son merely to point an accusing finger, telling the world how bad it was. He came to help, to put the world right again. Anyone who trusts in him is acquitted; anyone who refuses to trust him has long since been under the death sentence without knowing it. And why? Because of that person’s failure to believe in the one-of-a-kind Son of God when introduced to him.

19-21 “This is the crisis we’re in: God-light streamed into the world, but men and women everywhere ran for the darkness. They went for the darkness because they were not really interested in pleasing God. Everyone who makes a practice of doing evil, addicted to denial and illusion, hates God-light and won’t come near it, fearing a painful exposure. But anyone working and living in truth and reality welcomes God-light so the work can be seen for the God-work it is.”

You think with your head and you also think with your heart.

For example, a highly intelligent academic may have all the qualifications of super intelligence but may suffer from addiction problems, or irrational fears, or inability to hold down a relationship. Emotional intelligence is now a recognized form of human knowledge. Again for example, Richard Dawkins is well known for advocating that all Down’s Syndrome infants should be aborted in utero because they are not normal. He makes a logical scientific deduction, but fails the heart test because he does not address the vast numbers of families who have Down’s Syndrome children and love them and would never consider them inferior to another child.

The bible speaks about “As a man thinks in his heart” (Prov 23:7)

In her book, “Who Switched Off My Brain” Author Caroline Leaf, a world recognised Neuroscientist explains, “Toxic stress is particularly powerful because your heart is not just a pump. It is actually like another brain (and you thought you only had one brain!). Science demonstrates that your heart has its own independent nervous system, which is a complex system referred to as the “brain in the heart.” There are at least 40,000 neurons (nerve cells) in the heart – as many as are found in various parts of the brain. In effect, the brain in your heart acts like a checking station for all the emotions generated by the flow of chemicals created by thoughts. It is proving to be a real intelligent force behind the intuitive thoughts and feelings you experience. The heart also produces an important biochemical substance called an atrial peptide (specifically ANF). It is the balance hormone that regulates many of your brain’s functions and stimulates behaviour.

New scientific evidence on the heart’s neurological sensitivity indicates there are lines of communication between the brain and the heart that check the accuracy and integrity of your thought life. The reality is, your heart is in constant communication with your brain and the rest of your body. The signals your heart sends to your brain influence not just perception and emotional processing, but higher cognitive functions as well.”

You think with your heart.

If you are seeking God with your whole heart, then you will find Him. Jeremiah 29:13 New King James Version (NKJV) – 13 And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart.

If you are seeking proof or evidence for any other reason you will not find God, you will find what you are looking for – a reason not to believe.

2 Thessalonians 2:9-12 The Message (MSG)

9-12 The Anarchist’s coming is all Satan’s work. All his power and signs and miracles are fake, evil sleight of hand that plays to the gallery of those who hate the truth that could save them. And since they’re so obsessed with evil, God rubs their noses in it—gives them what they want. Since they refuse to trust truth, they’re banished to their chosen world of lies and illusions.

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

1. Do you believe in God? That God exists.

2. Do you have Faith in God? That God is who He says He is, the creator and giver of all life?

3. Do you believe that Jesus is God?

4. Do you believe that Jesus is who He says He is in the bible? The only begotten Son of God who died for you on the cross?

5. Do you believe that You have accepted the truth of the Gospel and have given your life to Christ to follow Him and live for Him?

If you found this blog helpful (or not) please leave a comment. – Thanks.